Chronicles of a Broken Marriage
by Sketch0117
Summary: Lucas Scott is now a famous novelist, but his marriage with Peyton Sawyer just came to an end. Now that he sees Brooke Davies again, old feelings will come around as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Everyone!!!! I'm Maria. Well this story came to my mind when I was alone at my house listening "Bittersweet Symphony" by The Verve. I always thought Peyton was a little too messed up to make a steady relationship with Lucas, even if the two of them would want it to work. It all came to my mind. I hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (sniffles).**

**A/N: In this story, Lucas and Peyton left Three Hill after their wedding. I changed some things in the story from Three Hill just to make sense or simply just because I didn't like them. This story begins with the ending of the divorce between Lucas and Peyton. **

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I'm Lucas Scott, a novelist and the most messed up person you could ever meet. Since I got married to the 'woman of my life', my ride in this life has been a break down road. Let me tell you my story: I lived in Three Hill all my childhood and my youth, and my passion as a High School was the basketball. I met my half-brother Nathan Scott like that. He was my father's son, with the woman he married after leaving my mother and me. We had problems at first, but with the time, we could become best friends, and forget the monster we used to call 'dad'. He fell in love with one of my best friends, Haley, and when she got pregnant, they got married.

My first love in High School was a cheerleader girl named Brooke Davies. She was the popular girl of the school. Total party animal, player… And all you can say of a plastic girl. But I couldn't say anything about it; I was becoming another Brooke Davies. We were so alike, not only in the façade we invented for the society, but in the inside. Our real personalities. We were both people with problems behind our stereotype; we had our love problems and problems at home. We helped each other. I don't know where I would be without Brooke right now. She was an aspiring designer at the time we dated, and right now, she is a successful designer. We took different ways in life, but I always had something in my mind:

I never stopped loving Brooke Davies.

I fell in love (or so I thought) with another cheerleader and Brooke best friend, Peyton Sawyer. Our relationship came with a lot of up and downs, and I only fell for her more and more. Most of those memories, I don't want to remember. I made her my muse. Since our relationship begun, I started writing a book, describing her and adding part of our relationship. When we finished High School, she moved to New York. I assumed she was scared, since she had some problems with drugs and depression. I chased and found her. I got into her apartment with a ring, asking her to marry me. She said no. I don't think I can describe in words how much that hurt me. With my heart broken, I got back to Three Hill, where I decided to publish my book, just to get some of the pain I was in, out of my chest. I found an editor, Lindsay. I opened up to her so much, that I told her the entire story behind the book. She always listened to me and somehow, she always seemed to have the answer. The story came out as a best seller. It helped, of course. A lot of things came around, and one of them was Peyton Sawyer back to Three Hill. Brooke Davies stayed all the way in Three Hill, so Peyton stayed in her house. She told everyone she didn't come to Three Hill for me. There was reunion of all of our friends of High School in a local bar. I saw her again, and that brought so many emotions. That same night, just to prove Peyton and _myself _that I could move on, I asked Lindsay to marry me. She accepted, but she wasn't a fool, she knew exactly that I still loved Peyton. That _very_ thought made her change her mind about marrying me, she canceled our wedding stating that she didn't want to marry someone that didn't love her. She convinced me to go after Peyton. And so I did, but now that I get to see how much mistakes we've made, that is a decision I'll always regret.

I got married to Peyton four years ago. After the wedding in Three Hill, we moved to New York downtown, where I got a big house for the two of us. I tried to convince my mom to come with us, but she only said that she would stay with my little sister in the house I got for them in Three Hill. I can only describe the first year of our marriage as _pure and perfect heaven_. As cliché as it sounds, I fell more and more for her, I would find paradise only looking through her hazel orbs. Just as I said before, she was my muse, so my inspiration came back and I could save my career.

The second year or so, I made a mistake, something I will always regret, and it will hurt until the end, if there is an end. After a party that I made in our house to celebrate my second book, called 'Through the Fog', all I remember is that after almost everyone was gone and it was only Nathan, Haley, Peyton, the editor of my most recent books, Marissa Ford and I, I drank a lot of alcohol. When Haley and Nathan were going, the last thing I remember is kissing Marissa.

The morning after, I woke up in my bed, next to her. Peyton was nowhere to be seen; I called her so many times that I can't remember how many, but she didn't answer. I wanted to apologize to her, to hold her and kiss her. She came back at night, screaming at me and as much as I said 'sorry', she only screamed more. I managed to get away of the house and spend the night at Nathan's. Then, everything just got worse. She started drinking, when I was coming from anywhere, she would be drunk, with red eyes from lack of sleep and crying in the nights, and she would accuse me of cheating on her. There were a lot of times that I found her in the floor passed out. I figured something out, so I got a condo, took my stuff out of the house and went to live there, so we weren't living together anymore. One day, I just said 'stop' and tried to talk to her. We did have a conversation and we did solve some things out. One of them was that we needed to attend to couple's therapy if we wanted to save our marriage. We figured out that if I could gain back her trust and leave the past in the past, things would start to come around and eventually we would be the happy couple we used to be. Everything started just fine; we talked to the therapist about everything in our relationship and sometimes we even laughed about memories of our good times together. But soon, Peyton's problem with the alcohol was just too much to handle for her, so she stopped going to the sessions, and soon she was using sleep pills and pills against the nerves. All her being was pills and alcohol, pills and alcohol. And soon the drugs came around too. She got intoxicated once, twice, and at the third time, I knew I had to do something for her. Don't get me wrong, I tried to talk to her and get her back to couple's therapy, but all I got was screaming. And she broke all the mirrors in the house. When she was still in the hospital, I got her in Detox.

That's pretty much all that had happen until today that the divorce is ended. All she left me is my name. The house, all the money we saved together, our car… Coming back from the past, I'm here, in the living room of the house that is now Peyton's. I won't be able to look at this house without looking through the past. I probably won't be able to look at this house without feeling guilty. I won't be able to look at this house _anymore_.

All my things are in their respective boxes, just waiting for the moving van to take them to my condo. I'm alone here, since Peyton is still in rehab. The tribunal gave her almost everything because she told them an extremely dramatic story about how the problems in our marriage appeared, and since all of that leaded us to where we are now, she made me look like a monster in front of them. I hid myself into my only talent: writing. That's something Peyton can't take from me. Also, there is catch I forgot to tell. Since our marriage started having problems, I started writing a book about it. It would be like a sequel to my first book. I'm actually finishing it and I'm thinking about publishing it as soon as the problem between Peyton and I is completely solved.

But the thing is that, it just doesn't seem to end anytime soon.

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**So, what do you think????**

**Bad, good…? Well it's just starting, Brooke Davies will come around the next chapter. **

**Please, review. **


	2. Inspiration Back

**Hey guys, here is the new chapter. I am a good updater, so you don't have to worry about it. Hey, sorry about putting Davies and not Davis. I was kind of asleep when I was writing the story ;). Thanks so much for the reviews.**

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"Aren't you finishing with that?" I hear Nathan say, since he is visiting me in my condo. I have been the last three hours in front of the computer trying to find a good ending for my new book, 'Chronicles of a Broken Marriage'.

"Man, this is hitting me, I can't write without Peyton" I say, barely a whisper. I just want this to end so I can publish the book. I can't imagine Peyton's reaction when I do it.

"What about we go to the library, so you can figure something out for the final" Nate suggests with a sympathetic smile. But I don't want anyone's pity, so I'll go by myself.

"You are right, man. But I want to go there alone."

"Yeah, sure." With that, he looks for his stuff and we both left the condo.

I pull my car into the road, and get to the library in two minutes or so. Once I get in, most of the people there now me. They are really nice with me. I start looking in the bookshelves for some old literature, so I can find some inspiration. I see a book that brings my attention and it's called Lissey's Story, by Stephen King. Once I take it out of the shelf, I see a face in the other side that I wasn't expecting to see. It's no less than Brooke Davis. The smile she had before seeing me is banished instantly. She looks like she saw a ghost.

"Lucas?" Her eyes get bright and I run to the other side of the shelf to hug her. I see that she was holding hand with a little girl. She could be like five years old. Once we pull back she takes my face in her hands and smiles brightly at me. She looks down at the little girl, who has a confused face.

"You have a daughter?" I ask her as I get on my knees in front of the girl.

"Yes, her name is Sam. Sam, this is Lucas, mommy's friend." The little girl smiles at me as brightly as Brooke.

"Hi" I say and she mutters it back with a low voice. My smile disappears as I remember a catch. If she has a daughter, she must be married. I stand up straight again.

"I missed you" I say to Brooke, her smile turns into a sad one.

"I've missed you too, Lucas. So much" I hug her tight again.

"I was coming from the Elementary School with Sam, and I thought it would be fun to read a book today. If you are not too busy, you could come with us so we can talk."

"Yeah, it has been so long. We have to catch on" I shrug the last part. We get out of the library and get into her car. Brooke drove in silence all the way. When we reach her apartment, Brooke opens the door and we get in. The apartment is big and has her style.

"Sam, why don't you go play with Martha?" She says as the babysitter appears in the living room. Sam runs up to her and soon they are nowhere to be seen. I look around the living room, admiring it.

"Brooke, this is really nice." I say taking my eyes back to hers.

"Thanks, it took me a lot of work" She shrugs, sitting in the bigger couch and gesturing me to sit next to her. "So, tell me, how is Peyton?" Memories of high school when they were best friends hit me. I keep my smile, thought.

"Well, I will tell you the entire story." She nods, expecting me to continue. "After we got married, the first year was awesome, I got a house for her in the downtowns, everything was fine. Then, I had some kind of reunion with Nathan, Haley and some people of the editorial to celebrate my new book¡, 'Through the Fog". I got drunk, and I cheated on her with my editor. I tried to reason with her, asked her to forgive me so many times, but she only screamed at me. She started to drink and accuse me of cheating on her. She got depressed, but I couldn't live in the house anymore, so I got a condo in the city. I talked to her one day, and we figured some things out, so we started in Couple's Therapy. Her alcohol problems got in the middle, so she stopped going, and eventually, the drugs came too. I got her in Detox, and we started the divorce transactions. The tribunal gave almost everything we made together to her; the house, the car, the money we saved… everything. And now she is in rehab." Brooke's face is full of sadness and confusion.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it, Lucas. Where are you living now?"

"I'm still living in the condo." She nods and looks away from me. I decide to change the subject.

"What about you? How has the life threaded you in these four years?" She looks at me again.

"Well, I opened a store where I sell all my designs. It's been really good. I love working on it, and last year I opened two more stores in Miami and Connecticut." That was fine, but it was not the story I wanted to hear.

"What about Sam?" I ask. She smiles weakly before responding.

"I adopted her about a year ago. Haley told me that her parents came to talk to her because they couldn't send her to school anymore because they didn't have the money, they were both heart sick, and the State didn't want to give them what they needed for raise their children. Her older brother came to stole in my store some day, and with that, I knew that I had to help them. I fought for moths to get them what they needed, to get some economic help for them from the state. Their parents weren't so much of good persons either, they said that it was fine with them that the state would take their children away. I learn to love the girl so much that I didn't want to say good-bye. I knew she would be better with me. So I adopted her. The tribunal had some problems with me being single, but they made her my daughter in the end." She smiles and bites her lip at the memories.

"You are so good, B. Davis. She's lucky to have you" She nods. We keep talking about everything, remembering about all our times in Three Hill. At almost 6:00 p.m. or so, I decided I wanted to go and finish writing my book. Brooke brought back my inspiration.

"I better get going, B. Davis." I stand up and walk to the door, with Brooke behind me. When we reach the door, I turn to her.

"Thanks for the beautiful afternoon, Brooke." I lean towards her with intentions of kissing her cheek. But before I reach her cheek, she turns her face and I end up kissing her lips. I pull back instantly, blushing. She is blushing too.

"Well, bye Lucas. I'll try to visit Peyton." I nod and she closes the door. I touch my lips and smile. I walk to my car and drive to my condo, the smile never leaving my face.

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**Review please!!!!**


	3. Move on

**Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updating, is just that my mom grounded me because I forgot to do the dishes. And yes, my mom is that hard on me. And sorry for putting Three and not Tree (hide my head ashamed). Enjoy!**

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Lucas POV.

It's been almost a week since the last time I saw Brooke, and I'm thinking of visit her tomorrow or so, but I think is going to be awkward. But it shouldn't, it was an accident, right? Anyways, I'm alone in my house. My book is finished, I'm just waiting until I find the right time to tell Peyton about it, and believe me, when I'll do it, it's not going to be pretty. I feel a vibration in my pocket, so I pick my phone up. It's Peyton. Ironic much, huh? I answer.

"Hey"

"Lucas?" She sounds nervous.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Mmm… Nothing. I just need you to do me a favor"

"Okay"

"Wouldyoupleasecometoafamilysessionhereinmyrehabcenter?" She says it so fast that I can't understand anything.

"What? A little slower please"

"Would you please come to a family session here in my rehab center? It's okay if you can't, I can call my dad or my stepmom…" I cut her off

"I will Peyt, just… When is it?" She sighs, I think it was a relieve sigh, so I can't help but smile.

"Tonight" I can't believe she was so afraid of asking me.

"Okay… What time?"

"7:30"

"I'm free"

"So… I'll see you here?"

"Mmm… Yeah, that's all you wanted?"

"Yes, thanks Luke."

"No problem, bye" I hung up and check on my clock. It's 5:40. So I guess I'll just relax and prepare myself for what's next.

**7:25 p.m.**

I'm in Saint Francis Rehab Center, looking forward to Peyton's family session. I'm walking through the hallways when I see the salon. I enter it and the chairs are in circle, and a lady (I think is the therapist) gestures me to sit on one of the chairs. I look around the room and I see Peyton sitting next to some other people. She notices me, and smiles. She looks good, just a little emaciated. The therapist breaks the silence.

"Hello everyone. I'm Linda Crowe, and I'm your therapist today. The point of this session is for you- She gestures to our circle- to express how you feel about your familiar's addiction, and be honest. Just to make them feel that you are supporting them.

Now, Peyton Sawyer, you're first, come to the circle." Peyton looks up and sits in the middle of the circle, and gestures me to sit in the chair in front of her, the two of us in front of the therapist.

"Now, what's your name?" Dr. Linda asks.

"I'm Lucas Scott, and I'm Peyton ex-husband." She nods and I keep my gaze on Peyton.

"It was her addiction what made you two divorce?" I keep my silence expecting her to answer that question. She looks at me, then at the therapist.

"Part of it" Dr. Linda nods expecting her to continue. "It all started when Lucas cheated on me with the editor of his books." I feel embarrassed of talking about my marriage in front of so many people.

"I want the whole story, Peyton." Dr. Linda says, Peyton nods.

"I started drinking and got depressed. For that reason, Lucas left the house. I don't blame him for that – She laughs -. I started abusing of my medication for the nerves and depression, and I felt they didn't work, that's how the drugs came. We tried with Couple Therapy, but my current state got in the middle so we didn't catch out goal, and when I got overdosed, Lucas and I knew it was over." She ends, her eyes clouding with tears. She rubbed her eyes and looked at me.

"Okay… So Lucas, how did you feel when she got overdosed?" Dr. Linda asks.

"I felt everything was crashing down. I knew if she didn't do anything for herself, then I would." I say looking at Peyton sadly.

"Do you still love her?" Dr. Linda asked. I knew that question was a little personal, but Peyton deserves an answer.

"Not as I used to. I'm not in love with her." I meet Peyton's eyes, and they were clouded with tears again.

"What about you, Peyton? Do you still love Lucas?" The tears fell and she shuts her eyes saying

"Of course I do." That totally broke my heart. I already feel the tears in my eyes. Dr. Linda looks a little lost on what to do, but she covers it up.

"Lucas, would you like to work things out with your ex-wife when the rehab ends?" I look down, afraid to meet Peyton's eyes.

"No, I wouldn't want to." Peyton sobs uncontrollably, but I want her to know what I'm about to say. "I support her with all my heart, because I know she is a good person and she deserves to be happy, and I want her to move on, and so I will, but I won't be totally happy if she doesn't get sober." I look at Peyton in the eye, and she looks a little better, but I see the look of hurt in her eyes. A look I totally know.

"Are you okay with how Lucas feels, Peyton?" Dr. Linda asks. Peyton smiles sadly and says

"I am, and I promise you, Lucas, that I'll do my best to move on and get sober." I smile proudly and nod.

"Well, I guess we finished our session" We get up and exit the room. Once we are out, she stands in front of me and looks at me in the eye.

"Who is it?" I look at her confused.

"What do you mean with 'who is it'?" I ask

"Who is the girl you are in love with?" She says slowly. I won't get out of this easily.

"How do you know?" She girths her teeth and gets closer to me.

"Answer me."

"It's Brooke Davis" I say in a low voice.

"Brooke? Your new girlfriend is Brooke? Are you even aware that she used to be my best friend?" I open my mouth but no words came.

"Now I get it, I'm dying here, and you can't help me because you are too busy fucking Brooke Davis?" She says this in a raised voice.

"Listen Peyton, she is not my girlfriend, but I'm in love with her, and I'm not with you anymore. It's time for you to take care of your own problems, because I'm tired of doing it for you." I say through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry Peyton, but as I said, I have to move on, and you have to move on too." With that, I walk through the hallways and into my car, and drive home. Now I'm reconsidering about publishing my book, but I have _to move on_.

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**I hope you like it!!! I'm already working on the next chapter, and I'm thinking of putting Peyton's POV, too. **

**Please review.**


	4. Rachel Gatina

**Hey guys, new chapter here. I am still working on the next few chapters in Peyton's and Brooke's POV, and I hope I'll update them tomorrow.**

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Lucas POV

Today, at noon or so, I came to my editor with my finished book; 'Chronicles of a Broken Marriage'. I think it will be a best seller, or at least so I hope. Peyton will be furious, but I had to do it. Also, I feel bad for doing all this to her, first came Brooke, and now the book. With all this stuff in my mind, I'm only sure of one thing: my visit at Brooke's house. I'll bring her Chinese food, it reminds me when we used to eat it in Tree Hill. Well, I'm on my way to her apartment right now. I hope my visit there will clear my mind a little, or at least distract me. What I did this afternoon, it's going to be either a big mistake, or my life changing success. I reach the building and get in front of her apartment door. I knock three times. She opens it, but her smile disappears.

"Hey Brooke" I smile trying to bring the mood up, she smiles too, but looks a little nervous.

"Come on in" She gestures me to get in, and so I did. I wait for her to sit down, but she just stands in the middle of the living room staring at me.

"I brought you Chinese food" I say and she smiles at me. "I thought it would be cool to have dinner together, just the two of us." She rubs the back of her neck awkwardly and looks everywhere but me.

"Actually, I have to tell you something" Just as she says this, we hear a voice coming from upstairs.

"Brooke, whom are you talking with?" In middle of the stairs, she stops and looks at me. It's no more and non less than Rachel Gatina. Wearing pajamas. Well for making things clear, she used to be best friends with Brooke in high school, but before that, she used the pretext of Brooke cheating on me, to be my girlfriend. I had to admit I used her to make Brooke jealous, but I never surrendered to her. She comes running down the stairs and crushing me in a big hug. I hug her back, and look at Brooke both awkwardly and questioningly. She only looks at me with a defeated face. Rachel finally pulls back and jumps a little, smiling goofily.

"Oh my God, I have to get changed" She says and races up the stairs. I laugh and Brooke smiles awkwardly.

"What is she doing here?" I ask Brooke, frowning.

"Look, she worked with me for six months, but my mom made me fire her, and she moved to Ohio, where her brother was living. She hasn't told me the whole story, but it looks like her brother was into drugs, and soon, so was she. She got overdosed. And she called me, because her parents don't give a damn about her. So I brought her here, got her in Detox, and I'm paying her sessions on Narcotics Anonyms. I know I'm doing too much for her, but she is my best friend, and you most know what is to have someone you love with those problems." She says, and I look down and nod, remembering about the session we had at Peyton's rehab.

"Yeah, I know" I whisper. A minute later, Rachel gets down well dressed. We smile at her, and sit in the couch.

"So tell me, Lucas, how's Peyton?" Rachel asks me in a moment of the conversation. I shift uncomfortably in my sit and Brooke gives me a half- smile.

"Well, I would say we are doing pretty badly." Rachel smile fades and it turns into a worried frown.

"Why? What's wrong?" I look down and tell her. "Well, a year after we got married, I cheated on her. She started drinking, and soon she came back to drugs. I left the house shortly after, and we started going to Couple's Therapy. But her problems with alcohol and drugs came in the middle, and she got overdosed. In that moment, I knew I had to help her. I got her in Detox and in rehab, and started the divorce. She is still in Rehab, and I'm not surprised if she hates me."

She looks stunned, and stays in silence for a while. She shakes her head and frowns, a mad frown this time.

"How could you do it?"

"Rachel, it was after a celebration for my second book, and I was drunk. My editor flirted with me, and in my current state I just couldn't do anything. It's not an excuse, but if I would be in my senses that night, the probabilities that I'd do that would be none." I spat. Rachel's face does not soften at all.

"But you knew that Rachel was messed up when you married her, so why did you hurt her more?" I open my mouth looking for an answer. "You knew she tried to kill herself over you when she left Tree Hill. What if she would have done that this time? Would you be looking for excuses to justify why you were such a monster?" Rachel stands up after saying that. I don't know how, but that words made me feel like a douche bag and each one of them hurt me.

"Rachel, please, stop that." Brooke says standing up and taking a hold on Rachel's forearms.

"Stop what, Brooke?" She says letting her arms free from Brooke's grip. "Peyton was your best friend, and you were the only one next to her when Lucas was going to marry Lindsey. You know more than I do, how much Peyton suffered because of Lucas."

"Look, Brooke, sorry for doing this. Think it's better if I leave" I walk to the door and I hear Brooke say "Let us alone for a moment, Rachel" with that, I hear her footsteps right behind me. We walk out of the door and I turn around to meet Brooke's eyes.

"Lucas, you know she is not fine. Just try to understand her." I nod and run a hand through my hair.

"I know. Just be careful with Sam around her. As you said, Rachel is not fine right now." I give her a hug and turn to the hallway, but Brooke calls my name again. I turn around to meet her.

"Where is Peyton's rehab center?" She asks.

"It's the Saint Francis. Why do you ask?" She runs a hand through her hair and gives me a smile.

"Well, I thought a visit from me and Rachel would make her happy. I will get Rachel to behave, I promise." Oh my God, the last thing I want right now is this. Peyton knows about my feelings towards Brooke. I hide my worries and force a smile.

"Yeah, B. Davis, that would be good." She nods.

"Well, good night Luke." She hugs me again. "Bye Brooke, and sorry for everything." She nods against my shoulder and pulls back, her lips brushing against my neck, leaving a burning sensation.

I have to admit that I'm sure about something else, I'm falling for Brooke Davis again, and falling _hard_.

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**Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? **

**Please review. **


	5. Surprise, Surprise

**Sorry for making you wait…**

**Here is the new chapter!!!. Enjoy**

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**Lucas POV.**

I'm alone tonight in my condo, Haley and Nathan just went out. I told them about Rachel Gatina and the scandal she made at Brooke's. When I think about it (like I'm doing now), sometimes I just think she was right. If she is so screwed, it's my fault. The way she admitted at the session that our divorce was practically all her fault was just a prove that she is not playing the victim. I've been playing the victim the whole time since our marriage was legally over, looking back. I just don't know if I'm making the right decision staying closer to Brooke while Peyton is living such a hell. While thinking about all of this, I receive a call. It's from Saint Francis, and I wonder… Why would they call me at 10:30 p.m.? I answer.

"Hello"

"Yeah… Is this Lucas Scott?" It's a male voice.

"Yes… why are you calling?"

"Is Peyton Sawyer your ex- wife?" I'm wondering what's all this about.

"Yes, she is… Sir, would you please tell what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Scott, but Miss Sawyer is dead." What? How? Why? My head is just spinning right now.

"What? Excuse me, but I don't understand. Peyton is dead?"

"Yes, Mr. Scott. She killed herself with one of her pillows. The office who attends the security cameras didn't see anything; just that she seemed to be crying and buried her face in the pillow. That's all the camera could register before her roommate realized she was not breathing." The first pair of tears come down my eyes. Even if I wasn't in love with her anymore, she was the love of my life for almost 8 years before we got married.

"But… How did that happened? She was supposed to be healing there." I say hiding my sobs behind my weak voice.

"Sir… She left you a note, we don't have the right to register it and we are respecting it, but it's a suicide letter and I think Miss Sawyer would have liked you to read it."

"Okay… Just wait for me, I'm on my way." I get dressed and hurry to Saint Francis, barely seeing because of my tears. I just can't believe that Peyton couldn't take it anymore. She used to be so strong, even stronger than me.

I get there and I see the police cars outside. I step inside and as soon as they see me, two guys (policemen) come to me and it looks like they are the ones in charge of the investigation.

"Good night, sir. I'm the officer Wiley and this is my partner, the officer Callaghan. After you get the chance to see the letter she left for you, we would like to ask you a few questions just to conquer our investigation." I nod and walk over to the room she died in, which is covered with the yellow lines from the police. One of the forensic investigators gestures me towards the door, where I can see the ambulance outside. After this, he gives me plastic gloves and a plastic little bag with her letter on the inside. The tears come out again when I recognize her handwriting in the outside of the letter. I nod and take it. I walk to outside to the garden, where I can see clearly the ambulance and the people coming in and out. I open up the letter and start reading these exact words;

_My dear Lucas:_

_At the time you are reading this, I'm probably out of this world. The pain just became unbearably, and I just couldn't let it become part of the routine, too. I don't want you to blame yourself, because in the time I lived in this world and the times I was your wife and girlfriend, you couldn't have loved me better. And believe me, if someone can make you happy, is Brooke Davis. Sorry for not being understanding about you wanting to move on at the time, but I still loved you and I think I won't ever stop doing so, even from Heaven. I think I'm better here, because I can watch you recover you happiness. Once again, I found myself alone in a place I didn't want to be in. Remember when I lived with Jake and little Jessica while you were with Brooke? He was right, I just wanted a family because everyone had someone and I was alone. I came back to Tree Hill the next day. I think you remember that time very well. While I was walking through this world, I just hurt everyone that loved me for real. As much as you say you love me as someone should love the love of their lives, you know it's not true. You just loved me enough, and as I said, I don't want you to feel guilty, I just need to tell you this; I had the bad luck of loving in this way. But now that I'm not here, I just want you to be happy with the love of your life by your side. And don't let my memory stop you anymore. I just hope B. Davis will make you extremely happy, because you deserve it._

_Love you always and forever,_

_Peyton Sawyer. _

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Two Days later.

Last night I just cried myself to sleep after coming back from the Policeman Office. When I was in the Morgue I called everyone… Nathan, Mouth, Haley, Bevin, Skills, Rachel and Brooke. It broke my heart when I saw Brooke cry so much. She just hugged Peyton's head to her chest, saying over and over 'this can't be happening'. If only she knew about what made Peyton kill herself. Today is the funeral, and I don't even know if I'm going to handle it. I put my black suit on and wash my face again. Then, I put the white rose into my pocket. Get out of the house and drive to the Church. When I get there, thirty minutes before the requiem mass, but I just needed some time to assimilate everything by myself. I cross myself and kneel in front of her coffin that is already in the altar. I pray 'Our Father' with my eyes closed, because my tears just don't let me focus.

"God, Peyton, just forgive me. I'm so sorry" I whisper, the lump in my throat making my voice tremble.

"Don't be" I hear someone saying from behind me. I look over my shoulder to see a crying Brooke wearing a black dress. I get up and crush her in a hug, burying my face in her hair, as she buries hers in my shoulder.

"I killed her, Brooke, you just don't understand." I say barely a whisper. She notices and pulls back, cupping my face in her hands.

"Don't ever say that, because we all know it's not true." I shake my head and she releases her grip on it.

"Look, Brooke, all Rachel said that night at your house is nothing more than the truth." The tears stream down her cheeks, and I continue. "I did an awful job as a husband, and I wasn't even capable to support her through the Rehab."

"Just think whatever you want to think, but I'm sure she wasn't trying to make any of us feel guilty, and you know that as clearly as I do." Just then, Nathan, Haley and Mouth enter the Church. Moth, being the sensitive person he is, started crying in the moment he saw the coffin at the altar. Nathan let out a few tears as he held Haley tightly against his chest. The people start to come over to the church, and soon we are at the graveyard, all the way just being a painful road full of angst, tears and pain.

And as so many times, I don't know what the hell am I going to do to get myself back.

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	6. The Book

**Hey guys, new chapter. Enjoy!!**

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Lucas POV.

I find myself in the graveyard where we buried Peyton, actually, in front of her grave. It has been almost two weeks since Peyton killed herself, and the time definitely is not helping any, at least not for now. I have not gone out since Peyton's decease, I have been too sorrow for that. I haven't even talked to Brooke, because it reminds me of Peyton's pain. Now, I'm here for a reason; I will publish my book tonight. It's almost 5:00 o' clock and I just wanted to feel that my next step was going to be right. Although I changed the end of the book, the story is the same and if I think it right, I'll get to the conclusion that, first, I practically killed my ex wife and now I'm going to publish the bad and good moments of our relationship. I've thought about this for days, gone round and round about what to do, and now I think that I've got it all down, but I still need some kind of reassurance.

I kneel in front of her grave, crossing myself and putting new flowers in the side of her grave. I smile warmly against the picture of her that is resting in her grave.

"I'm sorry for what I'm about to do, Sawyer. I'm so sorry." I inhale sharply before getting up. I also brought her the simplest version of the book, and it's special because it's just for her. In the first page I wrote the date of our wedding with our wedding picture and an inscription:

_For my always beautiful and strong Peyton Sawyer,_

_I know I won't see you in a long time, but at least I can give you our story, the good and the bad things, because each one of those moments made me happy in their own way. _

_Love you always, _

_Lucas Eugene Scott._

A couple of tears escape my eyes as I look at our wedding picture, but I shrug the feeling away.

"I love you so much, Peyton Sawyer, maybe not the way you wanted me to, but I won't ever forget you." I say, and then I kiss the cover of the book and put it next to her picture.

"Dude, you must be insane enough." I hear Nathan's voice from behind me, and then I feel his hand on my shoulder, shaking it lightly. Since he has been so supportive, I just feel like I have to tell him the truth. I walk over to a bench and gesture him to sit next to me.

"Man, I'm telling you the whole story." I say, and he frowns in confusion. "I do know what made Peyton commit suicide, and I'm so sorry I didn't tell you before." He nods gesturing me to continue.

"A couple of nights before, she asked me to go to the family session in the Rehab Center." I take a deep breath and he nods for me to continue. "We talked to the therapist about our time together and how her addiction got in the middle, and one of the questions I was asked was: 'do you want to try things out again with your ex wife?' And I said no, because I wasn't in love with her anymore. That broke her heart, but after the session was over, she took me outside, because looking into my eyes she realized I was in love with someone else. She asked me who it was, and I told her I was in love with Brooke Davis. She got upset, but I told her it was time for us to move on, and I let her like that. She left me a letter, telling me that she was glad I was in love with someone like B. Davis, and that she couldn't move on because she still loved me and now she was alone, like so many times in her life, only that this time she knew the fact that she couldn't bring me back. And that's why she killed herself."

For the time I finish this, I'm in tears, and Nathan only looks at me in a mix of disbelief and sadness. I get into a bent position, hiding my face in my lap and grabbing my head between my hands.

"Don't worry, man, its okay." I hear Nathan say and feel his hands patting my back to calm me down a little.

"No, Nathan it's not okay. If I at least have supported her maybe I wouldn't be here begging what's rest of her to forgive me. I'm going to publish a book about our time together, I've been writing it since our marriage started and now that she is dead and she can't suffer what I am going to do, I'm going to publish it. How messed up is that?" I say in between sobs. Then, I hear Nathan's sigh.

"Luke, it's not messed up. It is just fate, I guess." Then, I keep crying my eyes out, remembering how Peyton believed in fate. "Don't be sad, Lucas. Just publish the book. Like you have said to me so many times before, you just need to get something out of your chest. I'll support you through everything, and I think Peyton would like to see you happy from Heaven." I chuckle to myself thinking that he is right, so I'll publish my book. I sit up straight meeting my brother's eyes. He smiles lightly and punches me in the chest, trying to lift up the mood.

"Come on, let's get out of here." I follow him out, looking every now and then behind my shoulder, to where Peyton's grave was. In a point of our walking out, I realized that I have not have the answer for my doubt, and now that Nathan is near, I'm going to clear my doubts with his opinion.

"Hey Nate… Do you think Peyton will ever forgive me?" He let out and exasperated sigh, clearly not getting what I was trying to ask him. "I mean… Will she ever forgive me for publishing the problems in the relationship we shared?" He looks at me with comprehension in his eyes, and then he looked at the photo on top of the grave.

"I'm pretty sure she would have liked that you are getting all of that out of your chest. I'm sure that she didn't mean to hurt you like this, so I honestly think there is nothing to forgive." I smile widely at the thought of us without the sorrow. And maybe this means that if I publish this book, that's how things are going to be. Or at least, that's what I hope.

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Last night I published the book, and today it is going be buyable in the stores, and I have my publicists working on the propaganda for my book. And it feels right to know that the people is going to be able to know about my and Peyton's story. I was in my publicists office since 7:30 this morning, and now it's 5:30 and I'm finally home. Just when I sit in my couch, in the confines of my house, there is someone calling on my door. I groan and get up to open the door. Just when I open it, I see a very upset looking Brooke in front of me.

"Hey" I smile wide trying to get her to smile, but she keeps frowning.

"How could you do this?" She says showing me one of the books we imprinted at the office. She had to buy it.

"What's wrong with my book?" I ask, and she only shakes her head. I get apart from the doorway to let her in, and so she does, standing right in front of me.

"What's wrong with this piece of shit?" She says signaling to the book. I can't help but feel hurt by her words. Then she opens it in the page of the prologue, and starts reading it. "Lucas Scott writes in this piece of his work as a novelist, about his failed marriage with Peyton Sawyer (Rest in peace). He writes about her mistakes and his own mistakes in the relationship they tried to form together and how her addiction destroyed their relationship." She ends reading with tears in her eyes.

"Brooke, I know you are upset about this, but please understand me, I just needed to get some of this out of my chest." She laughs bitterly as I say this.

"And now you are looking for more excuses. I thought you felt guilty about her death, and now you are playing the victim saying letting people know about how messed up she was." I try to speak, but I don't find the words to fight back.

"See? That's what I thought. For God's sake, Lucas, she is DEAD. Just respect her memory a little."

"Brooke, please, don't say that. You know I loved Peyton with all my heart and you know how much I fought for her." She gets near me, our noses touching lightly.

"If you loved her so damn much, why did you put her through all that bullshit while you were married? Or instead, why do you put her through all that even after her death?" She whispers. I pull back slightly and run a hand through my hair.

"You disgust me, Lucas. I hope you have fun with your stupid book." She says, than she goes to towards the door, glaring at me the entire time.

Great, now I don't have Brooke.

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	7. Forgive

Lucas POV.

It's been three horrible weeks since I last saw Brooke. I have tried to avoid any kind of contact between her and I, but it's kinda hard. The night she left angry at me, I called her several times, but she didn't answer. She is always at Nathan's, since she and Haley are still good friends. I try to think this is like high school, where the problems used to come at ease in the littlest amount of time, but it's not. This is nothing like high school. My book just came out as a best seller. There has been criticism, of course, about revealing about my marriage to Peyton. In the moment the people from Tree Hill found out about my book, they got mad, because they knew how much Peyton suffered all through her life, and they were our best friends. So, now, how can I enjoy the success of my book, if I have nobody to share it with? I just feel miserable every day. I think I'm just going to apologize to Brooke, and make clear to the world that Peyton was a great person, and the best wife someone could have asked for. I'm heading to Brooke's; I'm going to solve the whole thing out. I drive there, trying to make up my mind about what to say, what to do. When I get there, I get out of my car and get take the elevator to her apartment. When I get to that floor, I walk along the hallway slowly, hesitantly. I reach the door, and knock on it three times. Brooke opens the door, and when she sees me, she just stares.

"What do you want?" She asks coldly.

"Brooke, I need to talk to you, just give me a minute to talk about it." I say, begging her to give me a chance, because that's all I need right now. She opens the door wider and steps aside, letting me in. When I hear she locks the door, I turn to her trying to show confidence.

"Brooke… about my book, I was just… I'm sorry" She rolls her eyes at my shuttering. "Listen… I didn't mean to insult Peyton's memory. I loved her, at its moment. I didn't mean to make her look like a mess, like the guilty. Why would I like all this fame if I made myself look like an idiot in front of the people I care about the most? Not only you; all the people from Tree Hill. My true friends. They all hate me right now, but what hurts the most is that you got out of my life again." I say sincerely, in a desperate tone, but her expression does not soften. I notice and ask her "You still don't believe me?"

"Of course not. You've never told me the truth, and I'm sick of getting only a part of the truth. I won't ever believe something that comes out of your mouth, Lucas; I'll never make that mistake again. I won't believe your words until I have the concrete prove that it is nothing but the truth." I feel hurt, but I keep my calm.

"Do you want prove, Brooke? Is that what you want?" I ask her trying to finish this 'argument'. She nods, glaring at me. "Then, you'll have it." I say, nodding lightly and exiting the apartment.

I'm ready to prove her wrong, and I know exactly how I'm going to do it.

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**The Next day**

Tonight I'm going to change what I did with my book. I'm heading to Larry King's studio to talk about Chronicles of a Broken Marriage in tonight's show. This is life changing; soon everyone will know the truth in my own words. All the things that the book tried to cover because of my reputation are going to be on spotlight tonight. I get to the building and go to backstage, where the staff is going to get me ready. I already know what I'm going to say, and I'm ready to every kind of reactions, honestly, I don't care about them. I just care about my friend's reactions and more important, Brooke's. The show starts and I'm totally into it. I smile at the audience and the camera as they greet me with claps and whistles.

"Good night to all of you, I'm Larry King. Our guest starring tonight in this show is no less than the famous novelist Lucas Scott, who is here to talk about his actual life and his last best seller, Chronicles of a Broken Marriage." Larry holds a replica of my book as I look around the audience smiling widely before Larry continues.

"Tell me Lucas, how have you been?" I shrug my shoulders a bit.

"I've been better, Larry, but I'm fine."

"This is your latest book, Chronicles of a Broken Marriage. Is also a best seller, the copies have been sold in so many countries. You must be really proud." I hesitate on my answer.

"Well, I'm proud of my work and of being capable of writing through the circumstances and making the best of my work. But the story behind the book, I'm not proud of it." I shake my head sadly. He nods understandingly, but damn right he doesn't understand.

"From what all of us know, this book is about your relationship and marriage with Peyton Sawyer, rest in peace." I nod, gesturing him to continue. "Would you tell us more?" I nod.

"Peyton and I had a relationship since we were in high school. I never doubted of my love for her. We started our life together in New York and we got married. The typical fairytale. We had everything, but I ruined it. As the book says, I cheated on her, I betrayed her love. After that, everything just got from bad to worse, and it happened to end almost one month ago when Peyton… killed herself." I finish whispering, tears getting on my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall, I'm not going to be weak. Larry smiles sympathetically.

"Nobody's perfect, Lucas. You weren't the only one in your marriage; Peyton made even more mistakes than you did." That's exactly where I have to make things clear.

"Larry, I'll make things clear. Peyton was the perfect wife, but unfortunately she had had a lot of problems when we were both teenagers and she didn't overcome them completely at the time. That's exactly why I'm here; because I insulted her memory, and besides the photos, that's all I've got left from her." Larry looks sternly at this.

"But even when you tried to fix things, she didn't want to sort things out with you. She came back to drugs, the abuse of alcohol, depression…" I quickly intervene as he finishes.

"But all the mistakes she made were because I didn't even try harder to get her back. If I was supposed to love her, I should have fought for her and support her. I was the one who started and the one who couldn't finish it." I say, and Larry looks at me with seriousness, maybe with anger.

"That's not what the book says, Lucas. At all."

"And that's because the book is made of nothing but lies. Lies I created to make a world of them, and then convince myself that I did the right thing. And it even convinced the world. But the main thing here, is that I didn't do the right thing. And now that I realized my mistake, I'm trying to change it"

"So that means, if you could take this book back, free from the fame and money you've get with it, you would?"

"Absolutely, the money or the fame are nothing compare to what I did to my family, my friends, and more important, Peyton." The crowd cheers at me, and I smile knowing that I took a great weight out of my chest. The show ends and I get home at 11:30 p.m. I change into more comfortable clothes, and then I get a call. I look at my phone, and it's from Brooke. I smile.

"Hello" I say.

"Hey, Lucas. I just saw Larry King's show and… I want to tell you that I'm sorry for treating you like I did, and that I forgive you."

"Don't be sorry, Brooke."

"And also I wanted to tell you, that you are the bravest person I've ever met. Thanks for doing what you did."

"Thanks Brooke, I really appreciate it."

"Okay, Lucas. Look, I'm tired, but I had to call you. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Brooke." And the other line went off. Everything is alright now; all I needed was Brooke's forgiveness.


End file.
